Robert Cummines (born 23 November 1951) is an English former gang leader, protection racketeer, armed robber, and criminal enforcer who was chief executive of Unlock, The National Association of Reformed Offenders from April 1999 until March 2012. Despite being described as a gangster in media, Cummines has refused the label, saying he never considered himself one, instead stating he was a "businessman whose business was crime." Early life Robert Cummines was born in Islington, London, the youngest of eight children. His father was a builder. He described the moment he decided to get into crime, saying two of his friends were walking with him at a park when one accidentally set off a starting pistol. Two police officers allegedly mistreated the two during interrogations, which led Cummines to speak up, saying that as the two involved were minors, an adult had to be present during questioning. According to Cummines, the two officers then left for a short period and returned with a straight razor which they threw on the ground in front of him, and said that they would arrest him as well for possession of the blade. He was told that if he pleaded guilty to the possession charge, he would only have to pay a 10 shilling fine, whereas if he chose to proceed to a trial, he would likely be convicted and sentenced to time in a borstal. He pleaded guilty and paid the fine. Upon returning to his place of work (a shipping office), where they had read about the guilty plea in the newspaper, he was fired. Cummines said that with a criminal record, it was incredibly difficult to find another job, and so thought "if you're gonna make me a bad guy, I'll show you how bad I can be." Career Cummines began a criminal career at the age of 16, beating up those who owed associates money, but quickly moved on, becoming Britain's youngest armed robber. He expanded into leading a group of criminal enforcers, extortionists and racketeers known as "The Chaps", employing extreme violence in 1970s North London with his fearsome reputation and a sawn-off double-barrel shotgun named "Kennedy" after JFK. He also used a brutal method common in the underworld, filling his shotgun with rock salt instead of buckshot–doing less damage but causing serious pain and removing any forensic evidence. Cummines claims he was taught to dehumanize anyone he killed, to